Tranquillity
by Cordelia Rose
Summary: With a new threat on the horizon and an intriguing new case for Merlin and her husband Percival, who will live and who will survive? Sequel to Melody
1. Chapter 1

_Chapter 1_

 _Warning/s: vomit mention lmao_

 _Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin._

 _A/N:_ _yo_

 _im here_

 _back with another shitty story_

 _because guess what i never stop_

 _lmao i am so bad at this and ive had an awful day_

 _anyway_

 _gimme yo theories about whats happening_

* * *

"We lost him," Merlin scowled, slumped in her chair. "If we had just gone out as soon as we saw him then we might have caught him."

"He could have killed you," Percival pointed out quietly. "You said yourself that he was incredibly powerful."

"Yeah, I know," Merlin grumbled. "I just…I feel like we just missed our opportunity."

The two of them were sitting at the Round Table, murmuring quietly among themselves. Everyone else was arguing loudly over what to do next, but Merlin was too tired to join in and Percival never got involved in loud discussions unless an innocent was at risk. And in this case, it was just Arthur and the other knights trying to decide what the best course of action would be.

"Is there any way you can find out if he's still here?" Percival asked after a few seconds.

"Yeah, I can," Merlin said thoughtfully. "I did it earlier, very quickly when I first saw…him." She turned towards Percival with a worried crease in her forehead. "There was something weird about him, Percival. His magic – it wasn't just tainted, it was _bad_."

Percival raised an eyebrow and Merlin hastened to explain. "When people have magic, they can go one of two ways. They can use their magic for good, or they can use it for bad. If they use it for bad, then it becomes tainted. I can always tell when it is or not, just like a sense. But his magic, it wasn't just tainted. It was pure evil, there wasn't a single spark of gold left in it. It was black and heavy and evil." She paused, not wanting to alarm her partner. "In fact, I don't think it was a person. Maybe it once was, but with that amount of black magic…there's not one shred of humanity left in that creature anymore."

Percival gripped her hand. "Whatever it is, we'll face it together, alright? And even if it does have black magic, I'm sure that your magic can still overwhelm it."

"I hope so," Merlin muttered, biting at her thumbnail. "It's always harder to defeat black magic."

The two of them sat in silence for a little while, mulling over their thoughts, when Arthur's announcement called them both to attention. "So we've all reached an agreement?" There was a general chorus of "yes" from the others, and immediately Merlin began listening again.

"What's happening?" Merlin piped up. Most other people would be sheepish at interrupting but Merlin was both too tired and too friendly with Arthur to care.

Fortunately for her, Arthur was used to her disrespect and answered immediately, "We're sending guards to check all of the secret routes in and out of Camelot as well as providing extra to the ones who are already on patrol on the outer perimeters." The other knights nodded and left, presumably to carry out the orders. Arthur turned to them once more. "Percival, I need you to check on all of the servants and make sure they're safe." Percival nodded and, squeezing Merlin's hand one last time, he left the Main Hall. "Merlin, is there anything you can do to track this man down?"

Merlin almost corrected him to "creature" but decided against it; it probably wasn't ideal to make Arthur any more worried than he was right now. Gwen would have enough on her plate when Arthur returned. "I can do heartbeat tracking throughout the castle. If you tell me how many guards there are in each area, I'll be able to sense any extra life forms moving through the castle or in its grounds."

Arthur nodded. "Great."

"Where's Gwen?"

"She went down to the kitchens as soon as the alarm bells went off to check on the servants."

Merlin smiled; that was so typical of Gwen. "Okay, give me a second to reach out." She shut her eyes and let her magic flow out into the web of the castle. Every living thing had magic embedded inside of it; most did not have the potentional to use it, however. It made it easy to sense all life forms. "How many guards and residents in the East Wing?" she asked without opening her eyes. She was sensing fifty-seven life forms there. She could hear them all beating; the irregular rhythm was giving her a headache.

Arthur paused a second before answering, presumably consulting with his documents. "There are twenty guards there at the moment, and…thirty-nine residents."

Merlin frowned. "There are only fifty-seven in there right now; so two are missing. Well, that's nothing to worry about. They probably just left to find out what was going on."

Arthur "mm-hmm"ed his agreement and let Merlin carry on. It took a while, but eventually they catalogused every part of the castle. One area had an extra two life forms than it should, which Merlin assumed were the two missing from the East Wing, but apart from that she was not able to sense any discrepancies. "Damn," she sighed, opening her eyes. "Maybe he's left?"

"Possibly," Arthur replied, his face grim. "What do we do if he comes back? We still don't know what he wants. And we didn't detect him until he was well inside of the castle."

Merlin drummed her fingers on the table. "I can repair the main doors, and put some kind of detection spell on them," she suggested. "Then if he tries the same trick again we'll know instantly."

"But he only blew off the doors once he was already inside," Arthur pointed out in frustration. "There doesn't seem to be anything we can do."

Merlin narrowed her eyes at him. "Don't insult my magic, Arthur! I am capable of anything, I am the most powerful magic being that will ever walk this earth. If anyone can protect this place, it's me. It might take a while for us to figure out the schematics of it, but I am capable of anything!"

Arthur hd the good grace to look embarrassed. "Sorry," he said and – was he being genuine? Miracles would never cease. Then, because his apologetic nature was too good to be true, he added, "Why are you so angry?"

Merlin huffed, her magic flying out and knocking the table over. It crashed into the far wall and split into pieces. "I don't know!" she snapped. "I…maybe I'm just tired."

Arthur looked at her doubtfully. "You just broke the table," he pointed out. "I think you're more than just tired."

Merlin closed her eyes and rubbed her hands over her face. Why was she so angry? It had been happening more lately. Percival had been commenting on it, though it had been under different circumstances that Merlin wouldn't want anything else to know about. They were…intimate, and her anger had increased the intensity of their love-making. She wasn't about to tell Arthur about that, though, so she settled for. "It's been happening lately," she admitted in a small voice. She waved her hand and the table began assembling itself again. "I just get awful mood swings for no reason and always about little things."

Arthur was looking at her with a strange gleam in his eyes, but before she had the chance to ask him what that was about, the Round Table knights returned. "Any luck?" Arthur asked immediately. They all shook their heads and reported what they'd seen. Merlin took the opportunity to drag the Round Table back to where it should be, avoiding the knight's inquisitive glances, and flopped down into a chair while they gave Arthur their reports.

Using magic to such an extent was exhausting, even for her; she'd like to see even a powerful witch or warlock trying to sense life forms within a metre radius. They'd struggle. By the Gods, she was tired. She curled up, the wooden chair being oddly comfortable and let herself drift.

She was only aware of the world again when she felt familiar arms scoop her up. "Are we going back to bed?

"For what remains of the night," Percival replied gently. He was taking extra care not to jostle her on the walk back to their chamber, Merlin realised with a pleasant jolt to her stomach. She loved when Percival took care of her like this, although she was loathe to admit it for the inevitable teasing that would follow.

She drifted off again during the long walk around the castle, but once more she awoke when she was laid down on the bed in their chambers. "Perc?" she asked sleepily, rubbing her eyes to make herself a little more awake.

"Yes, sweetheart?"

Merlin smiled at the affectionate tone and pet name. "Sorry for being moody lately. It happened again just now."

"Did you break the table?"

Merlin giggled. Percival knew her way too well. "Yep. Arthur was a bit surprised." Percival joined her in laughing until they were both yawning instead, and then he settled himself on the bed next to her, pulling her in close to him.

Merlin allowed herself to drop off again, and she was so nearly asleep when –

"Merlin? You alright?"

She summoned a bucket, leapt out of bed and promptly vomited into it.


	2. Chapter 2

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p style="max-height: 999999px;"emChapter 2/em/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"emWarnings: Some gore and blood etc., but nothing that you wouldn't be comfortable with if you're reading a teen-rated story./em/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"emDisclaimer: I don't own Merlin./em/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"emA/N: I'm so glad everyone enjoyed the first chapter of this story! A nice long one for you now, so please enjoy!/em/p  
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p style="max-height: 999999px;""You're sure you don't have a fever?" Percival asked, his large hand covering her eyes as well when he attempted to check her forehead for a temperature./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"Merlin giggled, despite the fact there were still a few waves of nausea rolling about in her stomach, and pulled his hand away gently. "I can't see," she pouted, playing with the wedding band around his ring finger. "You're too big."/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"Percival raised his eyebrow at her, questioning her wording, and Merlin giggled again, her cheeks heating up bright red. "You know what I mean," she scolded, and leant in to kiss him gently. She didn't want to separate but reluctantly pulled back. "In case I do have something, I probably shouldn't be doing that with you."/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;""Worth it," Percival muttered, his hand tracing over her figure through her thin nightgown. She shivered, inadvertently leaning into the touch./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;""I need to go to Gaius," Merlin whispered, her mouth close to his ear. "Just in case I do have something." She kissed the stubble on his cheek and pulled back, her gown resting around her upper thighs./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;""Need any help getting dressed?" Percival threw her a lazy grin as she slid from his lap./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;""I do, actually." She smirked at his expression; he clearly wasn't expecting to receive a positive answer. "I think I need to have a bath first, actually. Maybe you could help me with that too."/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"Needless to say, it took another two hours before Merlin finally managed to get down to Gaius. She hoped Gaius wouldn't ask her any of the usual questions that he did with all other patients; she really did not want to talk about her recent sexual intercourse with her father figure just in case she was pregnant or something ridiculous like that./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"She knocked, waited for an answer before walking in and greeted Gaius with a hug. "What brings you here, my girl?" he exclaimed, swirling a glass of murky green liquid in a circular motion./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;""I threw up last night," she said bluntly, taking a seat on one of his numerous benches. "Don't have a fever, but thought I might as well come make sure I'm not dying."/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;""A wise choice." Gaius set down his glass and peered at her. "You're still a good colour," he mused. "And not sweating."/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;""I know," Merlin sighed. "I really need to get back but Percival made me."/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"There was silence for a few moments while Gaius examined her, and then he got a strange look on his face. Uh oh. Merlin recognised that face. That was the "when-did-you-last-have-sexual-intercourse" face. So Merlin decided to cut him short, and sprang up. "I need to go Gaius, if I start to feel worse I'll just come back," she said hurriedly, heading towards the door./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"Fate was not on her side. "Merlin," Gaius said sternly, opening his mouth to continue./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"Fate was on her side. The warning bells began a clamorous ringing over the castle, and she didn't even glance back as she shot out of the room to find the emergency. She near fell down a flight of stairs, regained her balance in the nick of time and sprinted out into the courtyard where the knights were assembling. "What's happening?" she panted to Sir Owen./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;""There's been an attack," he replied grimly, his sword drawn and close to his side. "I don't know who or where yet."/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"Merlin thanked him and sped back into the castle to find more news. She bumped into one of the serving girls along the way, who was pale faced and had recent tear tracks down her face. She was huddled down in a crouch against the wall and Merlin almost missed her entirely as she ran by. Coming to a halt a few paces later, Merlin returned at a more leisurely speed and crouched down so she was on the same level as the serving girl. Emily, she remembered now./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;""Emily, what's wrong?" she asked gently, reaching out and laying her hand on her shoulder gently, so as not to spook her. "We need to evacuate into the courtyard." They were supposed to, anyway. Merlin wasn't going to when there was a perfectly good attack to investigate./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;""Lauren," Emily finally sobbed. Her hands were shaking and her breath was coming in short, shallow pants. "Lauren, she's—"/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"Merlin closed her eyes as she guessed what Emily wasn't able to say. "Come on," she said gently, petting her hair affectionately. "Let's go to Gaius."/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"Emily stood up obediently, following Merlin down the corridors like a shadow. Gaius had been around for so long that half of the castle staff had grown up seeing him as a grandfather figure, and they trusted him intrinsically. Gaius would know what to do./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"Gently, Merlin steered Emily towards the door and instructed her to knock and explain what was happening to Gaius. "I can't stay," she explained to the bewildered kitchen maid hurriedly. "I need to go help Arthur – the king – find out whoever's done this to – to Lauren." Emily's eyes filled with tears but she nodded, a little timidly, and raised her hand to knock./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"Merlin fled the scene; Gaius would kill her if he knew she was about to go hunting down a possibly magical creature by herself again. She had a sneaking suspicion that this attacker and the source of the dark magic she had felt only yesterday came from one and the same thing, and she was determined to find out what./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"She began to run and tripped over her skirts, catching herself on the wall and managing to stay upright (a rare feat for Merlin) Growling, she snapped her fingers and transformed her dress into some tight, light brown trousers and a similar long sleeved top in navy blue, and some sturdy brown boots instead of her precarious heels./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"Merlin continued down the corridor, reaching out with her magic to find out where she needed to go. She felt one of her strands urging her to go left so she followed, then left again, and then in a circle and right. She paused outside a closed door, a sense of foreboding washing over her. Her magic had led her to the entrance of the cave where Kilgharrah had once stayed, and the horrible, pulsating dark heart of magic inside wasn't encouraging./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"Merlin steeled herself and pushed the door open warily. A burst of light hit her; Arthur and the Round Table were already there, all holding torches and looking grim. "What happened?" Merlin whispered. Speaking at a normal volume really didn't feel appropriate at this point./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;""She's been attacked," Gwaine told her, seeing that Arthur was still staring mournfully at a point beyond Merlin's line of vision./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;""Lauren?" she asked for confirmation, biting her lip when she got a nod in return. Lauren had always been sweet, going the extra mile for everyone whenever she could and cheering people up when they needed it. She had cheered Merlin up a few times when she had been a servant herself, and when Merlin felt unappreciated for her magic. Lauren didn't know about that at the time, of course, but she had always been there for Merlin with funny anecdotes and vapid gossip nonetheless./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"She went to move forwards, but Percival stopped her. "It's not good," he warned her, then took his hands from her shoulders with a meaningful glance. Merlin recognised the glance and took in a deep breath – it meant that what she was about to look at was really unpleasant./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"There was a large stain all around Lauren, like blood that had leaked out from her body but had been cleaned up hastily. Her hair, once a lovely light blond that was naturally curly and springy, was now matted together with drying blood, turning it a reddish brown colour. Her dress – her favourite dress, Merlin noted sadly – still had patches of its original lavender colour showing through but it was splattered with an odd black substance, viscous and clumpy. The smell – it was like nothing Merlin had ever experienced before./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"It was darkest magic in its purest form, making her feel sick right to her very core. It infected her own magic like air tainted with smoke infects a person's lungs, and she began to cough. It started off small, but soon it became a hacking cough, and Merlin collapsed to her knees. She heard the exclaims of the knights, dim over the buzzing in her head, and recognised Percival helping her to her feet./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;""I need to leave," she wheezed, clinging to Percival for support. The evil magic in the air was suffocating her; she couldn't breathe at all now. Percival picked her up easily and rushed her out of the room, and up the stairs. As soon as they were halfway up the stairs, Merlin found herself breathing a lot easier and her chest relaxed. She let out one last rattling cough and then cleared her throat, patting Percival to tell him to let her down./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"He set her down gently, holding onto her for a few more seconds while she regained her balance, and then embraced her. "What happened?" he asked softly, his hand running up and down her back./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"She relaxed into him even more. "There's really, really evil magic down there. That black stuff all over Laur – her – absolutely reeks of it. I couldn't breathe, it was so thick."/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"Percival was quiet for a minute, thinking things over. Though her husband was naturally more chatty with her than others, he still liked to mull over his thoughts most of the time. "None of us were affected," he finally muttered. "We can clean the black stuff off her then bring her up to Gaius's rooms. You could have a look then."/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"Merlin nodded against his chest. "Be careful," she said. "I don't know what that stuff's made up of, but it could be dangerous."/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;""I'm always careful. How about you go up to our room and relax for a bit? Your magic probably needs some time to recuperate."/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;""Good idea as always," Merlin said. She sighed and stretched a little, not entirely missing how Percival's eyes were focused on the strain her shirt faced from the stretching./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;""Go on, I'll catch you up later," he murmured. "Gaius will want a look first." He turned to go back to help, then called over his shoulder, "Don't get changed before I get there!"/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"Merlin snorted, brushing her hair out of her face and heading back to their room to wait for his arrival./p  
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p style="max-height: 999999px;"When Percival arrived, Merlin was laid out on their bed, fiddling with the hem of her shirt absent-mindedly. She smiled when he closed the door and locked it, pulling off his jacket. "You feeling better?"/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;""Loads. You were right, rest is just what I needed." She grinned dozily. "My breasts are tender."/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"Percival quirked an eyebrow. "Did you tell Gaius that?"/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;""Nope," she sat up and patted the space beside her. "It's not that bad. Besides, all that's happening is just extra…sensitivity."/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"He caught on to what she was saying and joined her on the bed, slipping his hands under her shirt as best he could. It was a very tight shirt, after all. "You should still tell him," he murmured, nipping at her lips in between words./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;""I will when I go to see Lauren," she agreed, straddling his lap easily (she was well-practiced by now) and leaning in to kiss him properly./p  
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p style="max-height: 999999px;"Merlin was thoroughly satiated by the time she stumbled down to Gaius's. She had pulled a dress on haphazardly to make herself decent but hadn't bothered to neaten it or even pull a comb through her hair. If anyone saw her they were bound to know; Merlin reckoned she probably even smelt of sex if someone happened to come too close to her./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"Still, she skipped down to Gaius's, full of life. Her breasts were still tender and now swollen from her recent activities, and trying to force them into her corset properly was painful. She felt slightly strange with so much of her bosom spilling out from her dress, but it was also strangely liberating./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"She sobered up before she reached the physician's quarters, remembering what lay inside; poor Lauren. She thought of Emily and the grief she must be going through, and shook her head. She was almost certain that Emily was about to ask Lauren out for a picnic the day before this happened./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"Knocking quietly, she entered and nodded at Gaius. Lauren was lying on the patient cot, respectfully covered with a plain white sheet. "She was only twenty-three," Gaius said, startling Merlin out of her thoughts. "She began working here when she was thirteen, and she lived here ever since she was born. I helped her mother deliver her."/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;""How did this happen?" Merlin asked, at a loss for anything else she could possibly say, staring forlornly at the sheet-covered corpse./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;""Two puncture wounds in her neck," Gaius declared grimly. "Relatively very neat; the edges are a little ragged but on their own, they're not big enough to have killed her."/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;""So what did?" Merlin hated to ask that question: she knew she would detest the answer, but if she didn't solve this, nobody else would be able to. This was magic, and dark magic at that. Dark magic that was almost equal to her pure energy./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;""All of her blood was drained from her." The words were declared in a perfectly even and neutral tone, but the meaning of them chilled Merlin to the bone. "From those two holes, in fact. I'm not sure how yet, but I have my theories."/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"Merlin snorted in amusement despite the circumstances. "Your theories are more accurate than my best guess from researching would be on any given day, Gaius. Spill." Unconsciously she had moved closer to the body, almost as if she would give Lauren some comfort./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;""A vampyre," Gaius spat, anger clear in his tone. "Creatures born of hate and cruelty, they feast on the blood of humans to live and care nothing for the destruction and despair that they leave behind./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;""I thought they were just myths," Merlin whispered, horrified. She had read about them, but from all she had seen, they were only rumoured to exist. She had hoped that they were fabrications of some twisted person's imagination but apparently it seemed that her luck was against her./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"Gaius shook his head. "There are few of them in this world. They are fewer and fewer all the time; perhaps less than fifty remain. Once there were thousands, but in order to turn another person, they must find a man or woman with no morals or regard for life to become like them. Fortunately for us, those people are few and far in between."/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;""Lauren was definitely the wrong choice then," Merlin commented, sitting down next to the cot on a small, wooden stool. "I don't think she had any hatred in her body."/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;""That she didn't," Gaius agreed, hobbling over and pulling the sheet away gently, revealing Lauren's youthful face. All of the blood and the foul black substance had been washed from her, and someone had combed her hair and dressed her in another one of her dresses. She looked just as if she was sleeping. Merlin felt tears come to her eyes, but blinked them away and waited as Gaius swept some of Lauren's hair to the side./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"Two holes in her neck were revealed, deep enough to show the muscle underneath. Like Gaius had said, the edges were slightly jagged but otherwise neat and round. She was so pale; Merlin hadn't noticed before in the dim light. She really had been drained of all her blood./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"Merlin felt sick, but reached forward and let her fingers rest an inch above the puncture wounds. The rush of dark magic she received was enough to make her pull her wrist back instantly, and she grimaced. "I feel a lot of hatred and dark magic," she informed Gaius, pressing a hand to her stomach. "I think…oh no…"/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"Gaius, surprisingly nimble on occasions like these, nipped across the room and back with a bucket in his hands. Merlin felt a slight stab of embarrassment at having her father figure watching her throw up into a bucket, but it was washed away when she actually did vomit, well and truly./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"Gaius offered her a wet cloth to wipe her mouth, which she did quite happily, and then waved her hand to make both the bucket of vomit (ugh) and cloth disappear. The smell vanished with it. "Sorry. That's been happening a lot lately," she explained. She pulled her top up again, wincing at the slight pain, and tried to ignore Gaius's eyebrows. They were spelling out something not good. Maybe not bad, but not necessarily good either./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;""Come back and see me in two weeks, would you?" he asked, glancing down at her stomach. Merlin nodded and made her exit after a hug, frowning down at her figure. All of her clothes had been a little tighter lately, now that she thought about it. She had assumed it was something to do with her breasts swelling, but maybe her stomach had expanded as well. Maybe she'd ask Percival about it tonight, but for now she wanted to get to the library and do some research. She really needed to get a head start on this vampyre stuff as quickly as she could – she sensed that they didn't have much time left./p  
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	3. Chapter 3

_Chapter 3_

 _Warning/s: None, I think._

 _Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin._

 _A/N: A bit of a short one this time, but packed with stuff! I think I'm dying_

* * *

The last candle burnt out, its wick having sunk into the pool of molten wax. Merlin huffed, irritated, and conjured another one in front of her, already lit. She had lost count of how many hours she had been in the library now, but she had gone down in the late afternoon and she was sure it was now the early hours of the next morning. She had pulled down all of the books that could possibly contain any mere mention of vampyres, and had been systematically searching through them for any information.

"Dammit," she muttered, throwing another book aside. None of the books had told her anything useful; all of them had said something along the lines of "these creatures aren't real but they're rumoured to drink blood and stuff", which was everything she already knew from Gaius. She allowed herself to rest for a second, collapsing into one of the hard wooden chairs and dropping her head onto the remaining stack of tomes.

She was so tired; she just wanted to sleep but she had to find out what this vampyre could possibly want and how to keep him away, but it seemed that absolutely nobody in the world knew anything more than Gaius. Gaius himself didn't even know that much, and that in itself was worrying.

Looks like she was going in blind for this; she allowed herself to drift off a little, convinced that she wasn't going to find anything else. The little nap that she had intended to take turned into a deep slumber, and she awoke with a start when the first rays of sun were starting to poke into the library through its tiny windows. She swore under her breath and scraped her chair back, knocking a load of books to the floor.

Grumbling, she bent down to scoop them up but froze when she caught sight of a pale, barely twitching hand flung into a shaft of light on the other side of the table. Slowly, careful not to make any noise, Merlin straightened her knees and stepped round the tables; there was a bookshelf set on top of the long, wide surfaces blocking her view.

The vampyre was there; Merlin stifled a gasp as she rounded the corner of the tables and saw a tall figure, completely shrouded in a midnight cloak and swirling mist. He was bent down over a servant: Merlin could see the hem of a pale green dress and a mess of auburn hair mixed with a pool of blood, peeking out of other sides of the vampyre.

The serving girl was already dead, Merlin could tell. She might still be breathing but from the pallor of her skin and the amount of blood that had already spilled out onto the floor. Even if she stopped the vampyre now, there was no saving this girl.

Merlin waited, tears swelling in her eyes, until the vampyre had finished feeding. It straightened and glanced around; Merlin darted behind the bookshelves once more, breathing heavily. She counted to ten, and then dared to peek around. The creature had swept off, leaving behind a trail of bluey-grey smoke.

Merlin slipped off her shoes and set them down on the table she had been studying at, and hitched up her skirts to give chase. The only obstacle preventing her from catching the vampyre now was her own clumsiness, which as everyone knew from experience was a pretty ferocious obstacle.

She tripped after only thirty seconds, forgetting about the step leading out of the library and stubbing her toe painfully. She let out a whispered stream of curse words and hopped on one foot, keeping an eye on the vampyre. It was moving far faster at a walk than she could ever travel at a run; this was both an advantage and disadvantage for her in that moment. It hadn't heard her trip or swear due to the distance between them, but it was increasingly hard to catch up with it.

Merlin growled as she began to give chase again; why must magical creatures always have an advantage that made them damn near impossible to catch? They were already slippery enough, and deadly more than half the time.

She was technically a magical creature herself, but she wasn't hard to catch, she thought sulkily. The amount of time she had spent trussed up some place or the other was ridiculous, and she had scars to prove it.

She followed the vampyre down into the catacombs, where he had made his first kill (first known kill, a little voice added in her head) and then suddenly everything was black. Merlin swore in her head as she slowed and felt her way down the stairs, wondering what the hell had happened.

Of course; Merlin had artificially lit the area down here when she frequented Kilgharrah, and had never bothered to remove them. Having a creature of such dark magic down here had completely overpowered her magic, devouring them before they could even fight back. There was no way she could make more this close to the vampyre now, so this was it. She would catch this vampyre.

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 _A/N: when will my mental health return from the war_


	4. Chapter 4

_Chapter 4_

 _Warnings: None that I can think of_

 _Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin_

 _A/N: hi again i am mentally ill and want to die_

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She followed the figure all the way down the rocky steps until she was right at the bottom of the cavern, and then stuck close to the large cliff's edge as she tried to catch sight of the figure again, confused as to where it had slipped off to. She considered using some artificial lighting before realizing just how insane that idea was: firstly, it would lead the creature directly to her, and secondly she couldn't even summon any light with this much dark magic around her. She felt rather suffocated.

She rounded a corner, still peering around cautiously in the dim light, when there was a sudden and piercing pain in her neck. Merlin gasped, then screamed as she realized what was happening, flapping her arms uselessly to try and push the vampyre off her. Her magic had been so heavily dampened by its dark magic that it was barely a flare inside of her soul, not even a shadow of the fire that it usually was.

So, defenseless without her magic, Merlin did the only logical thing she could: she screamed, as loudly and for as long as her lungs would let her. The sound grew weaker as the pain in her neck increased and the numbness crept in, her life's blood draining from her. She hoped that somebody would hear her, and come to save her. Damn, she hated being the damsel in distress. Arthur would never her live it down…if she did live.

She let herself go limp in the vampyre's grip, flopping back against his body as if she was dying and all the strength had gone from her body. It seemed to work; the vampyre sucked a few more precious gulps of blood from her neck, and then dropped her. Merlin flinched as she went down and forced her body to go limp as she hit the hard surface, a shockwave running through her entire body.

There was blood trickling from the holes in her neck still, small amounts with everything considered, but even the tiniest of amounts were essential for her staying alive right now. She willed her magic to come back to stop it, but with the vampyre still in the proximity, no amount of willpower was going to work. Her magic was in her soul, not just in her body.

As the vampyre slipped away, further and further into the night, Merlin felt the small flicker of her magic return to her a little at a time, and gradually she felt the amount of blood lessen and eventually she even felt new skin closing over the holes, sealing the wounds that had been inflicted upon her.

Her magic flooded her being again, giving her renewed strength, and she struggled to stand, using the cliff wall to support herself. She gingerly prodded at her neck, feeling slight bumps but nothing else.

With shaking legs, Merlin somehow managed her way back up the stairs in the cavern, and then conjured a weak ball of light that was barely enough for her to see. But it sufficed, and Merlin crawled up the stairs to the main floor with the orb hovering in front of her. She reached the top of the stairs and promptly collapsed onto the ground, wheezing and panting at the effort. She let herself drift off into sleep, just for a little while, and the orb extinguished itself.

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 _A/N: please end my suffering_

 _or give me some anime to watch that works too_


	5. Chapter 5

Merlin awoke to find a dark figure hovering over her, pressing at the holes in her neck. Her first instinct was to scream for help, thinking that the vampyre had returned, but then she saw the shaggy, long hair and distinct red cloak of a Camelot knight, and realised it was – "Gwaine!"

He grinned down at her. "Gave me a scare, Merlin," he said off-handedly, but his expression betrayed what his tone did not. He really was worried, and Merlin couldn't really blame him. "Come on, let's get you to Gaius."

Merlin shook her head vehemently, regretting it as the holes in her neck let themselves be known with a sharp pain. "The vampyre," she insisted, "you need to go after it!"

Gwaine shook his head back. "No can do, Merls." He hoisted her to her feet, steadying her when she swayed. "Your screaming attracted one of the maids, and she raised the alarm. We've got the whole of Camelot's guard – excluding yours truly, and Percival – on the chase."

Merlin let herself be half-dragged out of the caves, one arm slung over Gwaine's shoulder. "No offense, Gwaine, but where is Percival?"

"He went down the other staircase. The maid who saw you just said you were down in the caves, but there are two caves, so we had to split up."

On cue, Percival came sprinting out of the other caves, stopping dead when he saw Merlin, and then running to her side again. "Merlin! What happened?" he said urgently, almost shoving Gwaine away from her. The knight took it in good stride and just wandered away to give them some privacy, examining a loose stone in the wall.

"Vampyre," was all Merlin could muster. She was exhausted from just a few steps that she hadn't even done by herself, and leant against her husband. "Got me, but I fought him off. Tired, though."

"We should get to Gaius," Percival decided, and Merlin bit her lip to stop herself from pointing out that she was the most powerful warlock in the world so maybe she could take care of herself. She knew both Percival and Gwaine were just being caring, and over-protective, so she allowed them to worry. She refused to be carried like a stupid damsel again, though, and looped her arm into Percival's, using him as a crutch.

The journey to Gaius's chambers was slow and painful, with Gwaine in front, brandishing a torch like it was his sword, and her leaning on Percival and managing to take about three steps every minute. She could feel herself becoming stronger with every passing second, and by the time they reached the final staircase before Gaius's room she was almost back to her normal pace.

"Gaius!" Gwaine bellowed as they reached the door. He burst into the room, and Gaius's sour reprimand died on his lips when he saw Merlin limping in, still helped by Percival.

"Merlin, come sit down here." He indicated the chair by his side, and then shooed Gwaine from the room. "Percival, fetch those papers on my desk." The married couple obeyed while Gwaine sulked out of the room, shutting the door behind him, and then Gaius began examining the puncture wounds in her neck anxiously.

"It's fine, Gaius," Merlin said, smiling at her husband when he came over, a sheaf of papers clutched in one of his large fists. "My magic healed me a lot."

"I want to be sure," Gaius said insistently, poking and prodding at the holes. "It could have left some kind of residue behind."

"I don't think so. Last time it did, the evil coming off of it was so strong I nearly collapsed. I feel fine now."

Gaius was clearly still worried but was, for the most part, convinced that she wasn't going to die anytime soon, so he stepped back with a small harrumph and then grabbed the papers off Percival, bestowing him with a rare smile. "Some research I've found on the vampyre," he said genially. "Mostly about its habits and how it chooses its victims; however, I did also find a ritual on how to weaken the vampyre greatly, which could help you to defeat it." He handed the papers over to an eager Merlin, who was making grabby hands at him. "It does warn that a lot of magic and power is needed to kill it even after that, though, Merlin, so be careful."

"I'm always careful, Gaius, you know that." She grinned up at her father-figure, who merely gave her an unimpressed stare back.

"Go and rest now," he ordered. "You'll need your strength if you're to defeat this vampyre."

Grinning, Merlin made to bounce up and off the bed, but halfway risen, the acute pain in her abdomen worsened and she fell back with a cry. In bewilderment she looked down at the blood on her trousers, and clutched at her stomach. "Percival—"

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A/N: it's been approximately a year and this is what i come back with. My sincerest apologies

Hit me up on tumblr, my url is asperger-girl (i love getting anons or non-anons, either is fine)


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